Search engines are some of the most frequently utilized sites on the World Wide Web (the “Web”). Search engines typically receive input as one or more search terms, perform a query of a database for Web pages matching the search terms, and return search results as a list of hyperlinks to Web pages from which a user can select one of the hyperlinks to visit a corresponding Web page.
Users looking for specific content types can choose to search for only a desired content type directly through a content-specific search engine called a vertical search engine. Vertical search engines provide many benefits over traditional, general-purpose search engines, the most fundamental benefit being the extremely focused results that vertical search engines are able to provide for users. For example, a video search engine may provide functionality for searching video content.
Video content often has metadata associated therewith that can be useful to a user in determining which search result to select. This metadata may include, for example, title, description, publication/upload date, and/or length for a particular video. In addition to metadata, users often expect a representative image for each video in the search results. A representative image provides users with a visual indication of content contained within a particular video.
Gathering metadata and representative images is typically done manually. This can be time-consuming and costly for the search engine provider. Often times, search engine providers are tasked with finding a video, its metadata, and its representative image, and associating this information together in a database. Aside from the time and cost associated with this practice, extracting metadata and finding representative images in this manner can adversely affect the accuracy and precision of search results ultimately provided to users due, for example, to human error.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.